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Feeding Frenzy: 12.02.08

Louisa Kasdon — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:48:00 GMT

If you’re interested in becoming a chef, one of the best routes to the toque is to get a professional culinary degree and master the building-block skills you’ll need to succeed. For that, Boston has several excellent options. In addition to Newbury College (www.newbury.edu), the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts (www.cambridgeculinary.com), and Boston University (www.bu.edu/foodandwine), Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts (www.bostonculinaryarts.com) is coming on strong. The two-year...

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Louisa Kasdon — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:19:00 GMT

A food writer’s favorite culinary indulgences    If ever there was a time of year to be a little indulgent, it’s December. After all, isn’t it payback for having to slog through 31 short, dark, chilly days? In that spirit, I’ve put together my personal top 10 of micro, mini, and maxi indulgences for the month. The key to making the most out of these small pleasures is conscious ceremony. You don’t just eat the great, juicy cheeseburger on the run, or slice off cold chunks of artisanal cheese...

Feeding Frenzy: November 18, 2008

Tamara Wieder — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:13:00 GMT

Break out the Champagne for Davio’s and Avila owner Steve DiFillippo, who was inducted into the Massachusetts Hospitality Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, on November 17. It’s well-deserved recognition for the man who opened the first Davio’s 23 years ago, yet DiFillippo is humble about the honor. “Who am I?” he says. “I’m basically an employee of Davio’s and Avila. I think it’s really a thing for everyone who works with me. We do a lot of charity work, we...

Moving On Up

Louisa Kasdon — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:13:00 GMT

What does it take to transition from cook to chef? It isn’t automatic, you know. Just because you’ve been working hard, have cooked long hours in a professional kitchen, and maybe even graduated from culinary school doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll ever get to be a “chef.” Actually, I used to make fun of chefs when I was a young kitchen slave. It seemed weirdly hierarchical for all these hotshot cooks to be responding, “Yes, Chef!” to every order barked by some 26-year-old in a tomato- stained...

Comfort's in

Louisa Kasdon — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 03:54:00 GMT

Think there's no place like home? Think again. Two minutes after walking through Sofra’s doors for the first time, I found myself straightening the Turkish kilim rugs that line the wooden benches as if I owned the place. As I plopped my bag on a bench and bellied up to the service counter, I was instantly at home. I squinted at the lunch specials and read all the tiny notes that indicated which meze were based on chickpeas and tomatoes, which on whipped feta. I marveled at the...

Feeding Frenzy: November 4, 2008

Louisa Kasdon — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 03:15:00 GMT

It's a reverse commute for Jacky Robert’s ultra-urban Petit Robert Bistro, as a third Eiffel Tower pops up in Needham. The menu and price point will be exactly the same as at the Columbus Avenue and Kenmore Square locations, which is extremely good news for pigs’-feet- and frogs’-leg’s-loving, price-sensitive, Euro-savvy suburbanites. Cupcakes are the perfect indulgences: portion-controlled, immoderately sinful, and a grownup treat that always seems to bring back memories of a first-grade...

Triple Threat

Louisa Kasdon — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:15:00 GMT

To the delight of cocktail lovers everywhere, Barbara Lynch opens Drink, the first of three Fort Point ventures Fresh from the shower after her early-morning boxing workout, her hair damp and loose, chef Barbara Lynch steps into the dust of the construction site that is Drink, her cocktail concept restaurant in Fort Point. Lynch radiates adrenaline, flitting like a butterfly and ready to sting like a bee, marveling earnestly at what she’s put together here in the old 1800sera Wool...

Feeding Frenzy: October 21, 2008

Tamara Wieder — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:59:00 GMT

And so it begins: some local restaurants have started tweaking their menus and price points, and whether or not they say so, you know the failing economy must have something (or everything) to do with it. Over at Sage, chef/owner Anthony Susi has unveiled a new menu concept, what he calls “a more casual and relaxed Italian dining experience.” In addition to antipasti and entrées, an expanded stuzzi (small plates) selection now features inexpensive munchies like pickled eggplant ($4), sliced...

Feeding Frenzy, October 7, 2008

Louisa Kasdon — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:52:00 GMT

Good news for public market fans. The Massachusetts Legislature has approved $10 million for a Boston Public Market that will be a hub for locally produced foods from across the region. Governor Deval Patrick, a major foodie himself, signed the bill, which allocates money to plan and build the market. In a simultaneous and supporting development, the Boston Redevelopment Authority funded a companion initiative to locate the market in Boston. My personal thanks to all those private citizens,...

Third Time's a Charm

Louisa Kasdon — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:16:00 GMT

After years of searching for just the right space, Chuck Draghi returns with Erbaluce Chuck Draghi gets an A for perseverance. Twice he’s come this close to opening a restaurant of his own, only to have the deal fall apart at the eleventh hour. But this time, it’s really happening. This month, chef Draghi and his partner, Joan Johnson, will open Erbaluce, an enoteca and modern Italian restaurant tucked away in Bay Village in the former home of Dedo. It’s a small mom-and-pop restaurant that...

Sea Change: Indian cuisine goes Coastal in Brookline

Louisa Kasdon — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:45:00 GMT

When I finally sat down with a map, I didn’t know why I’d been surprised when restaurant entrepreneur Vik Kapoor of Harvard Square’s Tamarind Bay first floated the notion of a new venture specializing in Indian seafood. But it had seemed so odd to me at first. My mind was so firmly attached to a meat-and veggie-based Indian cuisine of goshts and murghs, and my idea of seafood so focused on things from Maine grilled with lemon and butter, that it didn’t compute. What would Kapoor serve, other...

Feeding Frenzy, September 23, 2008

Louisa Kasdon — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:36:00 GMT

How about night school for grownups who love to eat and drink? Instead of AP chemistry, sign up for the Boston Wine School’s “WINE 101: Wine Tasting for the Complete Novice,” a fourclass series held on Tuesday nights starting October 7 and taught by Wine Master and educator Jonathon Alsop. “The goal is to help beginning wine drinkers respond with verve to the server’s perennial question: ‘What kind of wine do you like?’ ” Alsop says. The course fee is $200; visit www.bostonwineschool.com for...

Less and More

Louisa Kasdon — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:00:00 GMT

Stylish dining that won't break the bank Sometimes you feel like a splurge, and sometimes you don’t. But even when you’re feeling more like Scrooge than a big spender, you still don’t want to settle for crapola for dinner. It just means you have to think a little more creatively about where and how to eat. So here’s something for local newcomers to consider: true, Boston has plenty of worldclass, big-ticket eateries, but it also has more than its share of places to eat...

Boston Restaurant news, September 9, 2008

Louisa Kasdon — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:00:00 GMT

There’s a second location for entrepreneur Scott Herritt. The chefowner of Grotto, at the base of Beacon Hill, has opened Marliave, steps from the Park Street T station. Herritt is pitching Marliave’s menu as “New England–sourced food with Italian and French influences.” What does that mean? “It’s food you know — steaks, rack of lamb, steak frites — but not authentically Italian or French. Like, you don’t find shrimp scampi in Italy,” Herritt says. Upstairs, Marliave will be a finedining,...

Leaving home

Louisa Kasdon — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:58:00 GMT

Why do we eat out? Over the past few weeks, I’ve been asking chefs what they’re doing to convey value to their customers in a deflating economy. Gas prices are high, jobs are shaky, yet still the body needs to be fed. Whether you eat in or out, the cost of basic food is up: everything from corn to milk is more expensive than it was six months ago. You might be wondering if you should trim your dining-out budget. I feel a little like George W. Bush suggesting a shopping spree as the...